What's left of my heart is forever yours
by Left my heart in Paris
Summary: A late night case leads to Jenny going with Gibbs to a crime scene where she meets a little girl who changes her life forever, can she help the girl? How will Jenny and Gibbs' relationship develop when they take in the girl together and is there enough of Jenny's heart to go round. Major Jibbs, very minor child abuse
1. Chapter 1

**This idea has been on my mind for a while and it wouldn't really leave me alone, I know there are a lot of similar stories out there like this, where they find a child at a crime scene and take them in but to me they always seem to be very Gibbs based and focus a lot on the fact that he had a kid and gets a second chance at being a father, but I thought what if I focus it more on the fact that Jenny takes the child in, like we've seen in Lost and Found, she takes Carson in and to me it sounds like she regrets not having children, of course she's going to need Gibbs' help, which will lead to eventual Jibbs.**

**I hope you guys like, if you disagree with what I said then that's okay its just how I see it and don't get me wrong I love all of those stories, really every single one is amazing.**

**The title comes from the son 'Pray' by Kodaline who are a band that Tivafivanatomy recently introduced me to and I now love! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the little girl to come.**

What's left of my heart is forever yours

It was late at NCIS, well late for anyone who wasn't the director of NCIS or Special agent Gibbs, the building was empty bar the Director who sat alone in her office and the special agent who sat alone in the bullpen.

Neither were sure the other was there but they suspected they were, they always stayed late, for reasons neither quit understood, neither of them wanted to go home, to go home and face their life, their life was dark and empty, they had no one to share it with, no one to come home to and love, going home was always just a painful reminder of what they didn't have.

Jenny Shepard, sat in her office, she checked her emails once again but nothing new, she guess most politicians were at home, with their family's so they wouldn't be answering any emails tonight.

She sighed before slipping out of her chair and going over to the window and looking down at the harbour below her, the water shimmering in the lights of the night city below. She thought of the time that she wanted nothing more than to be this powerful women who got to sit in the big chair and she would have done anything to get there.

If only time travel was possible she would have stopped her younger self from putting success and her career before true love and true, pure happiness, but she couldn't think that, turning away from the window she ran a hand through her long red locks, she was tired, bored and her feet hurt.

With a heavy sigh, Jenny walked over to her leather sofa and sat down, kicking off her heels and curled up with her feet under her and took a moment to close her eyes and just clear her mind and relax.

Meanwhile….

Gibbs leant back in his chair, running his hands down his face, his eyes hurt, he was tried and he'd been staring at his computer screen for way to long and not wearing his reading glasses probably didn't help.

Looking at the clock he saw that it was nearing 2300 hours, maybe he should think about heading home, he almost laughed to himself, home, he went home to a house haunted with memories and a half built boat, so what was really the point in going home and not sleeping there, he must well just sit here and try and do some paper work.

Looking around the bullpen Gibbs couldn't help but think of all the people he'd seen come and go but he himself stayed the same, never moving, all the people he'd met who gone higher up in the ranks, the director included but he'd never felt the need to, he liked where he was, he was comfortable.

Jenny, even thinking about her made him smile, he'd loved her one, he was prepared to marry her once, but she, well she ran away and that meant she'd never felt the same even though her dear John letter had told him otherwise, he found himself looking up at the catwalk, its where she stood a lot of the time, he loved that she stood there, it made her look like the queen of a castle, it made her look so important and that made him proud, she'd been his probie, she'd been so green but now, well now she was the tuff and gruff director.

His desk phone began to ring, Gibbs looked at it for a moment before answering "Gibbs".

"I know you'd still be here, it's Greg from Dispatch, there's been a call about her a murder in George town" The voice on the other end answered.

"Okay, give me the address" Gibbs told him before writing down exactly what he said, after putting his phone down he pulled out his mobile and tried to call his team but they didn't answer and he'd seemed to remembered them saying something about a new bar.

He groaned before getting out of his chair, he needed a partner for tonight and there was only one other person he could think of and he knew she was still in her office.

Moments later he walked into her office, a smile fell upon his lips when he saw she was sitting on her sofa with her eyes shut, not sure if she was asleep he slowly approached her and reached out to gently shake her awake like he always used to, of course he used to kiss her as well but of course that would be inappropriate now.

"You dare touch me Special agent Gibbs and I will personally keelhaul you"

Gibbs smiled "I wasn't going to any such thing" he told her, his voice full of amusement, just as she opened her eyes and stretched her arms out.

"What can I do for you Jethro?" she asked after a moment.

"I have a case" Gibbs told her "I can't get a hold of my team, I wondered if you would come play agent for an hour or two" he asked.

Jenny smiled, it had been way to long since she'd been out in the field, "Of course, I mean if your team are break rule three and there is no other option" she added to try and make it more professional.

"Meet me at my car in five?" he asked her.

Jenny nodded before watching him walk out of her office, when the door closed she went into her private bathroom where she kept her emergency duffle bag and quickly changed from the skirt and blouse she was wearing to the more comfortable pair of trousers and jumper she had in there encase of emergency, she also changed her heels for a pair of sensible boots and tied back her red hair into a tight pony tail.

As he expected Five minutes later he got to his car to find Jenny leaning against it, reminding him a lot of her in her probie days, he didn't say anything he unlocked the car opened the passenger door for her before going to the driver's side and getting in himself.

Before he started the car he reached into the back and pulled out something, Jenny smiled upon seeing an NCIS jacket "Thought you might want to wear this like old times" he told her, he having already slipped on his, it being NCIS policy to wear NCIS Jackets at the crime scenes and she had her old one at home and he seemed to have a spare.

"Thanks" Jenny mumble before slipping the jacket on as he started the car and they drove.

….

Half an hour later they arrived at the address Gibbs had been given, they both made sure that their guns were ready and on their holsters before getting out of the car and walking to the front door, "Gun shots were heard, so I don't know what to expect" Gibbs told her.

Jenny nodded, understanding, as their time together on the team they'd spent many times at horrible crime scenes.

Gibbs picked the lock and then opened the door just a little bit "Ladies first" he told her.

"And who said chivalry was dead" Jenny smiled at him sweetly before pushing the door open with her back and walking in with her gun raised.

The house was dark, dusty and looked hardly lived in, the house was also dark, the windows blacked out by the thick deep red curtains, the floor boards creaked under foot and the air smelt damp.

"You okay?" Gibbs asked her, Jenny almost jumped at his voice, she turned slowly to face him and was about to answer when he put his hand over her mouth, "Do you hear that?" he asked after a moment, lowering his hand.

Jenny listened for a moment and he was right, it was the sound of people talking but it sounded a bit fuzzy "TV?" she asked him.

Gibbs nodded before walking down the corridor and Jenny followed him closely behind, neither really knew what to expect, all of a sudden Gibbs came to a complete stop in front of her, she almost bumped into the back of him, he turned to her and put his fingers to his lips telling her to be quiet, it was then that she noticed a beam of flickering light from under the door in front of them.

Standing either side of the door Gibbs held up his hand and counted to three before he kicked open the door and yelled "Federal agents"

Jenny followed in behind and gasped upon what she saw, there in the chair lay a man dressed in his marine uniform, slumped down with a bullet in the back of his head, the television still playing.

"I'll wake up Duck" Gibbs told her as be brought out his phone, Jenny nodded before she heard a faint whimpering and started to follow the sound, Gibbs didn't notice she had gone until he finished his phone conversation and turned around to speak to her.

Jenny walked down the corridor following the sounds of the small cries, she stopped when she heard something fall right by her, that's when she saw a cupboard door was open just a little bit.

The redhead nudged it open gently with her foot, what she saw made her heart swell. Huddled in the corner was a little girl, no older than six, her dirty blond hair covered her face in messy tangled, her clothes were dirty and almost falling off of her bony body, on her arms Jenny could see bruises of all different degrees of age, some more recent than others, she presumed it was abuse from the father.

"Hey" Jenny crouched down "Come on sweetie" she tried to coax the little girl but she just scuttled back into the corner, "I'm not going to hurt you" she told her.

The little girl looked at Jenny for a moment with her big green eyes, she moved a little towards the door, she looked at the women who was talking to her and she seemed nice, she reminded her a little bit of her mother.

Jenny opened her arms to her, she felt like the girl needed a hug, like she needed to feel safe, the little girl easily fell into her arms, the redhead lifted her up as she got up from her knees. She smiled at the little girl before carefully brushing her blond hair out of her face it was then that she saw the bruise forming on her nose and under her eyes and blood gushing from her nose, "How did that happen?" Jenny asked her as it looked very recent.

The little girl didn't answer she just looked back into the cupboard, it was then that Jenny noticed the gun laying on the floor with specks of blood on it.

TBC….

**Should I continue?**

**Please review, also suggestions on the girls name as I have no idea.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks all so much for your support, reviews and suggestions for the names it has all really helped.**

Chapter 2

Gibbs rounded the corner of the bullpen when the crime scene was all cleared up and the little girl had been cleared to leave and was currently with Jenny in her office as it seemed that the little girl wouldn't leave the redhead's side.

He head slapped Tony as he passed him "What was that for?" Tony asked

"For telling everyone to go to the club and bar you were at that had music so loud that you guys broke rule 3" Gibbs told him as he walked to his desk, "What have we got?" he asked them.

"The vics name was petty officer Thomas Fredricks, his wife Carla died a year and a half ago of cancer, leaving him to be the single father of now five year old Zoe Fredrick" Ziva explained as she read it from the plasma screen.

"Fredricks was discharged from duty for violence with other members" Tony explained "He apparently his anger got worse after his wife was diagnosed with cancer".

"So he could have taken it out on Zoe?" Gibbs asked and Tony nodded, "I'm going to see Ducky" Gibbs grumbled as he began to walk away.

"He's upstairs with the director" Tony told him so Gibbs changed the direction he was walking in and headed to the stairs taking two at a time and going into the direction of the Directors office.

….

Jenny was so surprised that Zoe was so attached to her, so far Zoe hadn't said anything but she'd let Ducky check her over and then let Jenny was the blood off of her face and out of her blond hair.

Zoe hadn't like Gibbs or any other men so far, so this only made Jenny and Ducky's theory of her father having abused her even more and of course Ducky's examination of her bruises and looking into her medical history had also conformed their theory's.

When Gibbs walked in Ducky was sitting in one of the chairs that were usually around the conference table while Jenny sat opposite him on the leather sofa, Zoe sat closely next to Jenny, almost on her lap.

"Special agent Gibbs how can I help you?" she asked him, her voice sterner than usual, her walls put up, she didn't want him criticising her for becoming emotionally attached to the girl, but she just couldn't help it, the girl latched on to her just as much as she had to her.

"I was wondering if I could speak to Doctor Mallard for two second's?" Gibbs asked almost glaring at Jenny, recently as their friendship had redeveloped they'd become closer, her walls had slowly been coming down she'd slowly been letting him in, but now all his hard work had been ruined.

Jenny took in a deep breath before looking at Ducky and giving him a slight nod, Ducky gave Zoe a small smile before getting up from his chair and walking over to Gibbs outside of Jenny's office.

"What did Zoe's examination show?" Gibbs asked him.

"Her body his covered in multiple bruising and looking into her medical history it shows that her father often took her to hospital with broken bones and major cuts, saying that she'd fallen over or walked into something" Ducky explained "This coupled with how uncomfortable she is around men has led me to believe that Zoe's father abused her" he added.

Gibbs nodded "Thanks Duck" he gave his old friend a smile before opening the office door taking a look at how Jenny and Zoe were sitting on the sofa, Jenny running her hands up and down Zoe's back as the little girl began to drift off asleep into her side, "Do you think that's good for her?" he asked Ducky.

"Who Zoe or Jennifer?" Ducky asked knowing that Gibbs still had feelings for the redhead and she for him but they were both way to stubborn to admit it.

"Both" Gibbs answered, still not taking his eyes of the girls on the sofa.

"For Zoe I would say yes it is a good thing, right now she needs to feel safe and loved and that it was Jennifer is trying to do" he explained "But for Jennifer, I'm not sure…I can't imagine what she'll be like when social services take her"

Gibbs nodded, that's the part he was afraid of as well, he just hopped he could be there for her when that time came, Gibbs' phone rang which brought him from his day dream of looking at Jenny and Zoe. "Gibbs" he answered "Okay Abs I'm on way" he told her before putting his phone down.

Five minutes later Gibbs strolled into Abby's lab "What yah got Abs?" He asked her making her spin around, her pigtails flying.

"Uh yeah" She said with an awkward facial expression like she didn't know how to say something or where to begin, "I think I know who the killer is" she told him.

"That's good work Abs who?" Gibbs asked thinking of what an easy case it was turning out to be, "Spit it out Abs so we can bring this guy to custody" Gibbs almost demanded.

"We already do" Abby replied, Gibbs just gave her a look that said _who? _"Zoe" She answered.

"Abs she's five" he told her.

"Yes but it was only her prints on the weapon and she has a bruise on her noes which would be consistent from the blow back of the pistol, it was probably self-defence" she told him "Also her being five means she can't be prosecuted as she was too young to know what she was doing"

Gibbs ran a hand down his face before pulling his phone out and calling Ducky, "Autopsy" he answered.

"Hey Duck, could Zoe's injuries be as a result of blow back from the pistol if she shot Fredricks?" he asked.

Both Gibbs and Abby listened as Ducky thought for a moment "That would explain the recent inguries to her noes, actually its most probobal, are you telling me she killed her father?" he asked.

"Looks that way" Gibbs answered before putting the phone down and heading out of Abby's lab and heading to Jenny's office.

Jenny lifted Zoe off of her and lay her gently down on the sofa, she got up and walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a blanket she used sometimes and put it over her, running her hands through the little girls blond curls.

She then remembered Cynthia was still here and decided she should let her go home so walked out of her office, shutting the door gently behind her, not wanting to wake Zoe up, "Why don't you go home Cynthia" she told her.

"Are you sure Director?" She asked "Can I get you and uhhh" she couldn't remember her name.

"Zoe" Jenny told her with a smile.

"Yes Zoe, can I get you anything before I go?" Cynthia asked.

"No we'll be fine" Jenny assured the younger women and turned to go back into her office when she felt Gibbs' presence in the room "What can I do for you Jethro?" she asked turning to face him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Zoe killed her father" Gibbs told her.

Jenny was shocked, how could such a sweet little girl do that "But…" she began.

"Self-defence, her father was beating her, she wanted it to stop, she was five she didn't realise what she'd done" Gibbs explained.

"Okay, good job" she told him, her gut inside her telling her now she had to say goodbye to Zoe, she had to hand her over to child services.

"I'll call child services for you if you want?" Gibbs asked her , knowing it would be hard for her to do.

"Ugh no" Jenny shook her head, "I can do it" she said but her voice told him otherwise, it was small and quiet almost as if she was trying to not show how she really was feeling.

Zoe woke up almost an hour later, it took her a moment to remember where she was, who was looking after her, she liked Jenny, she was nice, she reminded her a little of her mother, she was warm and had a nice smile, one that told her she wouldn't hurt her.

She'd also liked Ducky, he'd seemed nice, almost like her grandpa who'd died shortly after her mother, he'd always fought with her father to take her away from him but he'd never got the chance to actually do that and she'd been left with her father and no other family member to save her from him.

"Hey, did you sleep well?" Zoe looked up to find Jenny walking over to her, still not wanting to say something , too afraid that she might say something wrong and be punished for it, she just nodded her head.

There came a knock on Jenny's office door, Zoe watched as Jenny walked over to the large metal door and opened it to see a tall, think dark haired women dressed in a smart grey business suit with a skirt and Gibbs at her side.

"Zoe" Jenny encouraged the little girl to get up from the leather sofa, "I want you to come and meet my friend Helen She's here to take you to a new home where you'll be safe" she tried to explain crouching down to her level, finding it hard to realise she would never see this little girl again even though she'd only known her for a couple of hours.

"Come on sweetie" Helen tried to encourage Zoe but the five year old wouldn't move a budge, she just kept looking at Jenny, her green eyes big and watery.

"No" Zoe mumbled making everyone look at her in shock.

"Excuse me?" Helen asked not sure if she'd heard the girl correctly or not.

Zoe looked at Jenny who was steel kneeling at her height "I want to stay with you" she said before hugging Jenny, almost knocking her completely to the floor, her arm instinctively going around Zoe in a hug.

She got up to her feet still holding Zoe so she was now carrying her, "Can you arrange it so Zoe will be put into my care for the time being?" Jenny asked the social worker ignoring the disapproving look she got from Gibbs.

"Of course director but are you sure that is wise?" Helen asked.

Jenny looked at Zoe and smiled "I think so" she nodded, "I have twenty four hour security I think Zoe will be safe with me" she told her.

"I'll get the papers drawn up and send them to you tomorrow" Helen told Jenny before turning to leave.

Gibbs stood there for a moment, he couldn't help but feel his gut churning at the idea of Jenny looking after Zoe but he knew how pig headed the redhead could be and knew there was no point trying to stop her.

TBC…

**I hope you guys like, any suggestions? Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jenny sat in her office chair, just finishing the last of her paper work when her mind took her to Zoe and how she'd begged to stay with her, when she'd woken up yesterday she hadn't expected to go on a late night case and then become so attached to a little girl who was also the murderer.

She didn't know what it was about the little girl that made her want to mother the girl so, Jenny knew what it was like to feel like you were alone, to lose your mother and wonder who was going to look after you now, of course Jenny had had her father but then he too was taken from her, she wanted to make Zoe feel safe, make her feel loved, she would have to make sure she went to an amazing well deserving family.

The sound of whimpering broke the silence, bringing Jenny back to the here and now, she looked over to see Zoe, who was asleep on the sofa wrapped in a purple blanket that Jenny used when she had to spend the night, Zoe looked like she was trying to fight something or maybe even someone.

Quickly the redhead got out of her chair and knelt down in front of the sofa, at first she wasn't sure what to do but all of a sudden she felt her hand come out and brush her blond hair out of her face and saw Zoe's face scrunched up in fear, almost pain.

"Zoe" Jenny said her name lightly, hoping it would wake her up but it didn't work "Zoe" she tried again as she sat down next to the sleeping girl on the sofa. "Come on sweetie" she found herself saying as she touched her shoulder gently.

Zoe sat up straight and began crying "I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry" she began cowering back into the cushion of the sofa. "I didn't mean it" the little girl began to wail.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you" Jenny assured her, Zoe just jumped into Jenny's lap and hugged the redhead that reminded her of her mother and made her feel safe.

Jenny instinctively wrapped her arms around her and held her close, "It's okay" Jenny mumbled, running her hands up and down Zoe's back wanting her to feel safe.

"I didn't meant to hurt him" Zoe mumbled, she must be talking about her father "I just wanted him to stop" she continued to sob.

"Come on, we should get home" Jenny told her feeling Zoe nod before getting up of the sofa and pulling out her phone to called Stanley to bring the car around.

….

Jenny had dug around in the back of her wardrobe and found an old NCIS t-shirt she was pretty sure she'd taken from Gibbs at one point in their previous relationship, along with an old pair of shorts and she'd given them to Zoe to wear after realising the little girl didn't have any other clothes than the one she was wearing and they were dirty and covered in blood.

She and Zoe sat in Jenny's living room, the redhead asking her to pick a film from her small selection of films after having brushed Zoe's hair and platted it for her so her long blond hair was now all bunched up and flowing down her back, Jenny wondered how long it had been since the little girl had had a haircut.

Jenny walked back into the living room with a bowl of freshly popped popcorn "You made a choice yet?" she asked Zoe who sat in front of the book case which had a mix of books and films all organised neatly.

"Ugh, that one" She said pointing to the Disney collection that Tony had got her for a secret Santa once thinking that Jenny hadn't ever watched films and that she should start with the classics and Jenny had humoured him with a smile.

"What one?" Jenny asked showing her all the different dvd options in the box set, Zoe thought for a moment before pointing to beauty and the beast, "good choice" Jenny told her before going to set the dvd up.

Just as the redhead had hit play there came a knock at her door "Stay here, I'll be back in a minute" Jenny told her guest before getting up and going to the front door, wrapping her jumper round her as she opened the front door, letting in the cold.

"I thought it would take you longer….to check up on me" Jenny told Gibbs who stood on her doorstep.

"Had to wait for Chinese" Gibbs told her as he held up the bag of take out, she'd forgotten about dinner, she felt so stupid, like she'd failed.

"I was just about to order some myself" Jenny lied and turned around quickly so Gibbs wouldn't see her right eye twitch and he followed her inside.

Zoe wasn't paying much attention to the film, she wanted too but she couldn't help but fear that her father might be at the door and he might hurt Jenny just to get to her and it didn't help that she heard Jenny talking to someone with a deep voice that she wasn't sure she recognised.

"Hey Zoe, look who's come to see us" Jenny said with a warm smile as Gibbs walked around the corner, Zoe let out a little breath, it was Gibbs, he was alright, he was nothing like her father so he had to be, he also looked at Jenny with nice eyes so she knew he wouldn't hurt her.

"I brought food, are you hungry?" Gibbs asked Zoe she nodded sitting up, coming out of the cushion she'd sunken into.

Gibbs put the bag of take out onto Jenny's coffee table as she went to her study to pour him a drink and then went to get cutlery.

When she walked into her living room she saw Gibbs had put everything he'd bought on the table, Gibbs grabbed his and put Jenny's in front of her and then let Zoe pick out of the little selection that he'd bought not sure what she liked, both were relieved when she grabbed the simple chicken chow mein.

An hour later the film finished, Gibbs looked over to the sofa and smiled at the sight of Zoe asleep snuggling into Jenny's side, fisting in to Jenny's jumper, the redhead in question herself smiled before taking Zoe in her arms and going to stand up so she was carrying the little girl.

"I'll take her" Gibbs suggested being as gentlemanly as ever.

Jenny shook her head "She's more comfortable around women, I don't want her to wake up to have you carrying her and she freak out on you, she's been through enough in the last twenty four hours" she replied in a whisper.

Gibbs nodded saying that he understood completely, he then watched as the redhead carried the little girl upstairs, he began to put the left over Chinese in the fridge before putting the empty containers in the bin.

"You didn't have to do that" Gibbs turned around to find Jenny leaning against the doorframe.

"Least I could do, you let me have your good bourbon" he told her motioning to the empty tumbler by the sink. "I should go" he said pushing off from the kitchen counter.

"Okay" Jenny nodded before following him into the hall and to the front door where he got his jacket off of the hat stand and put it on. "This was nice" she mused "you and I out of the office" she added.

"Yeah" Gibbs nodded "Zoe was lightening up" he told her.

"Yeah, she's something special isn't she?" Jenny said with a smile on her face.

"Be careful Jen" he told her, Jenny couldn't help but think about how he was being hypocritical, he and Zack. "Don't get too attached, it will only heart more when they go away, never knowing if you'll see them again, if you'll know what they are doing, if they're okay" now she wasn't so sure he was talking about Zoe.

"Well maybe it's a little too late for that" she told him, knowing that Zoe already had a hold on her heart "Who said that I was going to let her get taken away" Jenny suggested.

"You're going to adopt her?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know yet, I'm thinking about my options and I want to see how the next couple of days go" Jenny explained.

"Well, whatever you decided" Gibbs said "I'll support you" he added with a kiss to her forehead before walking out of Jenny's house leaving her stunned behind.

TBC….

**Hope you like please review, suggestions.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Zoe woke in the early hours of the morning, sweat covering her body and soaking into the old NCIS t-shirt and shorts that Jenny had given her to wear, her hair sticking to her forehead and the back of her neck.

Her eyes shot open as her nightmare began to fade, as a memory of her father punching her woke her just as he was about to land one last powerful blow to her chest, her green orbs darted around the dark room.

She lay in the middle of an unfamiliar double bed, she could see the large bay window that was draped in curtains that blocked out most of the light from outside, looking to her right Zoe saw that the bedroom door was open enough for her to realise that the landing light had been left on and she could look out onto the small landing.

It then hit her, Jenny, she was staying with Jenny the women who'd rescued her, who'd promised to keep her safe, she was safe, she remembered the night before, having noodles that agent Gibbs had bought, she liked him, he seemed nice and he seemed to like Jenny a lot.

Zoe sighed contently before closing her eyes and trying to fall back asleep, but she couldn't, the thought of her father made the darkness of the room almost feel as if it was closing in around her, she tried to kick away the scared, gut churning feeling she felt and snuggled back into her pillow.

After a couple of moments, she heard tapping at the window she hid under the bed covers but the tapping just became louder and more and more frequent, then a birds crowing could be heard from outside scaring her more and after mere seconds of that the old grandfather clock down stairs in the entrance way began to chime loudly.

Before Zoe registered it she jumped out of the bed and ran across the hall, pushing the door open a little and slipping in, she felt a little bit of relief when she saw Jenny asleep in an even bigger double bed, the covers resting low at her waist, showing she was wearing a similar t-shirt to Zoe although hers said NIS and looked more warn.

She walked over to the redhead and managed to climb up onto the bed and went to the unoccupied side of the bed and slipped under the covers, snuggling into Jenny's side taking comfort in the smell of her jasmine and flowery perfume and her coconut shampoo.

Jenny rolled over in her sleep and put an arm around Zoe with a faint mumble of "Jethro" escaping her lips before she fell back into a deeper sleep and the five year old soon followed.

…

The redhead woke a couple of hours later, her eyes fluttering open and she couldn't help but smile when she saw her bed companion, she wondered for a moment why Zoe was there but she then realised she should have expected it, of course after what Zoe had been through she would have scars and nightmares for a long time.

Jenny looked over Zoe and saw that it was eight in the morning, later than she usually woke up, brushing some of the girls blond hair out of her face, she decided to let her sleep for a little longer while she got ready for the day so she could give her her full attention.

Carefully slipped out of the bed, Jenny then made her way to her en-suit bathroom, she closed the door gently then looked at herself in the mirror, she was still very much confused about Jethro, he'd kissed her on the forehead.

What did that mean? He kissed Ziva and Abby on the forehead all the time but she couldn't help that shake the feeling it was different than that, his lips had lingered, he'd been so gentle and nice, he'd assured her that he would there for her, what did it all mean?

Looking at herself in the mirror she looked at the t-shirt she was wearing, it was his, she'd 'accidently' packed it when she left in Paris and still wore it, even though it had long lost the smell of him, bourbon, coffee and sawdust, was it a sign that she wasn't over him? of course she was still in love with him, but after all she'd done, there was no way in hell that he would even think about taking her back

Sighing Jenny ran a tired hand through her hair before going to hit the shower, hoping she didn't wake Zoe in the process.

….

Almost forty minutes later Jenny had showered, dried her hair and changed into a pair of casual jeans and green jumper and the five year old still hadn't woken up.

Jenny sat down gently on the vacant side of the bed and brushed her blond curls out of her face, "Zoe" she said her name as gently and as calming as possible and watched as the little girls nose crinkled up and then her green eyes fluttered open.

"Momma" the little girl mumbled.

"No it's me Jenny" she told her, hoping she would remember and not freak out.

"Jenny" Zoe gave her a small smile before realising where she was "I'm sorry" she began to panic, she shouldn't be in Jenny's bed, she would probably get in trouble "I didn't meant to, I had a nightmare" she said hiding under the covers.

"It's okay" Jenny told her following Zoe under the covers, "It's okay" she told her again and the little girl calmed down a little "You're not in trouble" Jenny assured her, reaching out to touch her gently, "You had a nightmare, it's okay"

"It is?" Zoe asked a little surprised.

"Of course it" Jenny said with a warm smile as Zoe pulled the covers down and Jenny did the same it getting too hot and stuffy. "You can come in here whenever you want, in fact any room of the house" she told her "Especially if you can't sleep of have nightmares okay"

"Okay" Zoe nodded slowly,

"We better get up we have a busy day" Jenny told her, Zoe looked at her with wide green eyes, "We're going shopping to get you some clothes and then we have to go to NCIS and see my friend Helen again" the redhead explained.

"She's going to take me away isn't she?" Zoe asked with tear filled eyes.

Jenny's heart almost broke "She's going to find you a family, a family who will love you and keep you safe" she explained.

"Can't you love me and keep me safe?" she asked her with her big innocent green eyes.

"I…I" Jenny knew she'd told Jethro that she was thinking of taking care of Zoe permanently but she'd realised shortly after saying that, that she was the director of NCIS, she didn't have time to be a full time mum, even though she wanted to be.

"Please don't let them take me away, _please" _the little girl stressed, she may have only been five but she was wise beyond her years, even more so than Jenny, looking into the similar green eyes Zoe could have been fifty. "I like it here, I like you" she told her.

"I like you here and I like you" Jenny told her, "I'll see what I can do, but in the meantime do you like pancakes?" she asked the little girl, she knew Noemi made amazing pancakes but she had the next two weeks off to visit her family so Jenny would have to make them and pancakes and omelettes were the only things she really knew how to cook.

"I don't know" Zoe told her, Jenny was a little surprised she'd never had pancakes before, but then remembered the background that she had come from.

"Well you'll just have to try them" she told her before slipping out of the bed and Zoe followed her.

….

In the late afternoon Jenny and Zoe arrived at the NCIS headquarters, the little girl now had more outfits than she could ever remember, she liked shopping with Jenny, she found that the older redhead was good a choosing clothes that she knew Zoe would like.

They walked into the bullpen, Jenny dressed in the casual outfit she'd dressed in this morning while Zoe wore one of her new outfits of light blue jeans, light purple converse and a pink SpongeBob t-shirt.

"Good afternoon Zoe, Jen" Ziva greeted the two as they rounded the corner of the bullpen, Tony looked up and his mouth fell open as he looked at Jenny in her pair of figure hugging jeans

Tony's trance was broken by a sharp slap to the back of his head, he looked up to find Gibbs rounding the corner of the bullpen with a fresh cup of coffee in his hands, "Jen, Zoe" he smiled at them both.

"Hi Gibbs" Zoe spoke to only him, she only trusted him out of the team so far and she still stood behind Jenny, keeping a tight hold on the older women's hand.

"You got new clothes?" he asked her knowing she only had the rags that they'd found her in.

"Yeah" Zoe gave him a small smile.

"Ugh Jethro could you look after Zoe I have an important meeting I need to do to and so she can't ben in my office.

"Of course" Gibbs nodded knowing this would be a good time to get to know Zoe if Jenny really was going to adopt her.

"Thank you" she said giving him a smile before turning to Zoe "Will you stay with Jethro and make sure him and his team behave?" She asked the little girl and she nodded with a smile before going over to the extra chair Gibbs had pulled up next to his desk.

….

Moments later Jenny walked into her office and was surprised to find Helen sitting at the conference table, "How is Zoe?" Helen asked.

"She's good, I got her new clothes" Jenny explained "She's eaten a little and she had a nightmare but that's to be expected" she continued as she sat down opposite her at the table.

"Well, the good news is we already have some families lined up, all very keen to meet her, all loving and live in safe neighbourhoods" Helen told the redhead with a smile.

"No" Jenny said shaking her head, all of a sudden the thought of not seeing Zoe again terrified her, like Gibbs had said, not knowing where or how she was, if she was okay, it would haunt her for the rest of her life.

"What do you mean?" Helen asked Jenny a little bit surprised.

"I want to look after Zoe" Jenny told her "I will love her and she'll be safe with me" she continued.

"You want to adopt Zoe?" Helen asked her, trying to confirm what the redhead was getting at.

"Yes" Jenny nodded.

"I'm Sorry director but you can't" Helen regretfully informed her.

"Why not?" Jenny asked her voice rose in anger "Zoe is very much attached to me and I her, I've looked after her and I think I did a good job and I always…." She began to ramble.

Helen stopped her "Your job is too demanding, you wouldn't be there for Zoe when she needs it, not matter how much you want to be you just can't" she told her.

Jenny's heart almost felt like it was tearing inside her "Isn't there anything I can do?" she asked.

"There is another option" Helen told her seeing how much Jenny wanted to look after Zoe and take care of her.

"What?" Jenny asked, wishing life was for once simple.

"You can get someone to co-adopt her with you"

TBC…

**I hope you guys like, please review, any ideas of who would do such a thing, plus how she can persuade them to do it?**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Zoe liked Gibbs, she was glad that out of all the people Jenny could have left her with that she'd left her with him.

He let her sit at his desk and bought her a hot chocolate, he was nice, had kind eyes and he didn't remind her of her father which meant he wouldn't be the type of person that would harm her or anyone else, especially Jenny.

After he'd brought them both dinner last night, she had seen something between them, they looked at each other differently than people normally did, them smiled a lot at each other and Jenny was more relaxed around him.

She sat on the spare chair next to Gibbs' desk as she watched him flick through some folders, Zoe sighed with boredom before spinning her chair around to look at the team.

Tim sat typing away at his computer, Tony was scrawling through something on his computer, she suspected cinema show times after all she'd heard about him, she then looked over to Ziva who was also flipping through folders.

Zoe hopped off of her chair and walked over to Tony's desk, she leant against it, resting her head on his desk.

"What's up?" he asked her, looking past his computer screen at the little girl.

"I'm bored" she mumbled "What yah doing?" she asked him.

"I'm looking at Cinema times" he told her "Do you like films?" Tony asked her after a moment.

Zoe shrugged her shoulders "I don't know, I watched beauty and the beast, I liked it" she told him.

"Maybe we could go see something some time and maybe the rest of the team could come too" he suggested.

Zoe grinned, her green eyes shining with excitement "I would like that" she told him and she couldn't help but think it was the beginning of a good friendship.

Meanwhile Gibbs may have been flipping through the folder but actually he was thinking about a certain redhead women. She'd been up there for more than an hour and he'd already seen Helen, the social worker he'd suspected to be the person she had the meeting with walk across the catwalk in front of MTAC and to the elevator.

He knew that Jenny wouldn't have left Zoe down here for so long if all had gone well, getting up from his chair and headed up to Jenny's office, squeezing Zoe's shoulder gently as he past her and mumbling that he would be back soon.

When he reached Jenny's office, Gibbs found that Cynthia wasn't there meaning Jenny had probably sent her home for the day, which either meant Jenny was upset and needed time to think or she was busy making arrangements.

His heart sunk when he opened the office door and found it dark bar the desk lamp, which showed Jenny sitting slumped in her director chair, her head in her hands. He went to her side in an instant "You okay Jen?" he asked her.

She looked up upon hearing his voice having not noticed him enter the room, he was the very person she wanted to see, to comfort her, to talk to, to help her, he was always be able to tell when he needed her, when she needed him without even knowing it.

Gibbs saw the hurt and worry in her bright green eyes, he knew that meant her meeting with Helen hadn't had good results. "What did Helen say?" he asked.

"I can't adopt Zoe" Jenny told him, not even braving to look at him yet, "Apparently my job is too demanding" she continued, neither of them really surprised by the reason by.

"Isn't there anything you can do?" he asked her, wanting to see her fight for what she wanted, what she wanted to believe in, like her redhead hair would suggest about her personality.

Jenny shrugged her shoulders "There is another option but I can't do it" she told him.

"What?" Gibbs asked her, he'd already told her that he would support her no matter what, in whatever decision she made, he would be there.

"I would need to find someone to co-adopt Zoe with me" she told him and continued talking before he could talk "I mean, who is going to co-adopt her with me, how can I find someone who I can trust with Zoe and who Zoe is comfortable enough around? But I also can't let her get taken to another family that she doesn't want to go, where she'll be unhappy" she began to rant.

Gibbs got a little frustrated and had forgotten how much she could talk and how fast she could talk without taking a breath, he pulled her chair and spun it around so it faced him, he put his arms on her shoulders and then lifted her chin so her green eyes met his blue.

"I'll adopt her with you" he told her.

"But I didn't as…" she began but he cut her off.

"You never had to ask Jen" he told her with a smile "When I told you I would support you no matter what, I meant it Jen" he said, his blue eyes boring into hers, showing her that he really and truly meant it, with everything he had.

"You're going to co-adopt Zoe with me?" she asked him in almost disbelief.

Gibbs nodded at her with a smile, "Do you want to call Helen in for another meeting so that she doesn't find Zoe another family by tomorrow?" he asked after a moment.

"I'll call her right now" she told him with a smile before reaching for her phone.

To say Helen was surprised to have Jenny phoning her an hour after leaving them her with the news she could only co-adopt Zoe, was an understatement, but she wasn't surprised when she walked into the director's office to see Gibbs and Jenny waiting for her, she had a feeling that they were a little bit more than friends.

"How can I help you both?" she asked sitting at the conference table with the couple in front of her.

"We want to adopt Zoe" Jenny said motioning to herself and Gibbs.

"I take it you two are a couple then?" Helen asked knowing that Zoe would need a strong family environment and that meant stable parents figures.

Jenny and Gibbs were a little shocked by the question, they hadn't even thought of that, of course they would have to say that they were together even though they weren't. "Yes" Gibbs answered as he saw that Jenny was in too much shock.

Helen nodded and gave them a smile "Before I can give a definitive answer I'm going to have to observe you both with Zoe and your home life, just to make sure its exactly what Zoe needs" she told them and both nodded "Remember it's all about Zoe at the end of the day"

"Of course" Jenny replied with a nod and a smile, while she was still trying to get over the fact that they were going to have to pretend to be a couple again. She just hoped that past memories didn't come back and ruin any chance of a future for them.

TBC…

**Hope you guys like, please review any suggestions for jibbs acting as a couple?**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Since finding out that they would have to be observed as a couple before they could adopt Zoe, even though they weren't actually a couple but they couldn't let the observer know that, Jenny and Gibbs had felt a little on edge.

They'd decided that they would start the rues the next day, both not knowing when the observer was going to pop up.

Gibbs hadn't slept at all, all he kept thinking was how this was going to be just like when they were partners, they would have to pretend to be a couple, that wasn't going to be hard, what was going to be hard was the part when it ended , when it came to the long nights after Zoe had gone to bed, it was going to be hard for him to keep his hands to himself, he loved Jenny, he knew he always had, even her leaving had stopped it so he wasn't sure how he was going to deal being so close to her.

Meanwhile Jenny hadn't slept well either, she was worried what would happen if they weren't convincing enough and Zoe would get taken away, she spent the night lying beside Zoe who had had another nightmare, brushing the blond curls out of the little girls face while her minded drifted to the past and how she and Jethro had done this before, but then she'd fallen for him and it had no longer been a cover, she was adamant that she wouldn't do that this time, even though she couldn't deny that a small part of her heart flipped with hope of it, she soon fell asleep in the early hours of the morning.

….

Hours later Jenny woke at the sound of birds chirping outside her bedroom window and sun light streaming through the small gap in her cream curtains, her hand flew to her face to cover it from the light, it was then she noticed she was alone.

She ran her hand over the side of the bed where Zoe had slept, "Zoe" Jenny mumbled sitting up in her bed, she felt the side of the bed was still warm so she hadn't been long.

Then there came a noise from downstairs, she hopped out of the bed and ran out of her bedroom door and flew down the stairs.

When Jenny reached the bottom of the stairs the aroma of coffee and bacon assaulted her senses, this made her even more worried, she'd given Naomi two weeks off to go visit her sister, so who the hell was cooking because it sure wasn't Zoe, she was only six.

Reaching the kitchen the redhead stopped dead in her tracks, Zoe sat on the kitchen bar stool, laughing and giggling as she watched a very familiar man cook eggs and bacon, she should have known.

Gibbs laughed and so did Zoe, it had been so long since he'd got to look after a kid, especially a little girl, it made his heart swell as memories of Kelly hit him.

"Jenny made me choc chip pancakes yesterday they were really good" Zoe told her, she liked Gibbs he was really friendly and made her feel safe and like no one could hurt her.

Gibbs smiled "She's made them for me too, they're good" he told her with a smile, he remembered when he'd been shot and to cheer him up Jenny had made him choc chip pancakes to cheer him up, but what have cheered him up more was learning that they were the only one thing she could actually cook.

"Did she make them smile?" Zoe asked him, her voice only just above the whisper.

"No" Gibbs shook his head as he leant close to the little girl, "What did she do to it, tell it a joke?" he asked teasing Zoe.

"No" Zoe laughed at him.

"Did she tickle it?" Gibbs asked before he lunged at the little girl and began to tickle her as she giggled and kicked her legs.

Jenny smiled from the door way, it had been a long time since she'd seen Gibbs smile like he was and Zoe seemed to be very happy, not fazed by her nightmare at all.

"Jenny save me!" Zoe yelled through fits of giggles, having noticed the redhead.

She pushed off of the door jamb and went over to Gibbs and Zoe and picked the little girl up in her arms, wrapping her arms around her blocking Gibbs from tickling her. He was tempted to attack Jenny but in the end he didn't know where or what that would lead to so decided to go back to his bacon which he could smell was burning.

"Gibbs cooked us breakfast" Zoe told the redhead bringing her from ogling Gibbs in his tight warn out blue jeans and red hoody.

"I can smell it" Jenny told her "Did he make coffee?" she asked putting the little girl back down on the breakfast bar stool.

"Yup, I helped put the coffee in" Zoe grinned at her and watched as Jenny made her way to the coffee pot and pulled out a mug from the cupboard above it and poured herself a mug as Gibbs dished up the bacon and scrambled eggs. The little girl watched the two adults like they were doing a finally tuned danced, working together to get everything ready for breakfast, both knowing what the other wanted.

….

Twenty minutes later they all finished and Gibbs took the plates to go and wash them up while they told Zoe to go and get dressed and think about what she wanted to do with her bedroom for when they went shopping later.

Just as Jenny herself was about to go and get changed from her or more like Gibbs' old NCIS t-shirt and shorts the doorbell rang. "I'll get it" she called to Gibbs so he didn't stopped in the middle of washing the dishes.

Jenny sighed before opening the front door wondering who the hell it would be on a Saturday, only when she opened the door did she think it would be Helen and that the observing would begin.

"Helen" Jenny smiled at the women who stood on her door step, her brown hair tied up into a tight bun and wearing a professional grey business suit.

"Hi Jenny, is it an okay time to start the observation?" she asked noticing that the redhead was still in sleep wear.

"Of course" Jenny said stepping aside and letting the women in "Zoe's upstairs just getting dressed" she told her "Would you like some coffee?" she asked.

"I would love some" Helen nodded before following the redhead through the living room and to the kitchen where Gibbs stood at the sink washing the dishes.

"Jethro, Helen's here for the observation" Jenny told him with a sweet smile making Gibbs turn to face her.

"Oh yeah, hi" He gave her a nod before going over to the coffee pot and pouring the women some as if reading Jenny's mind and put a dash of milk in it for Helen before passing it to her.

"Thanks" Helen smiled before taking a sip and watched as Jenny went to stand next to Gibbs, who wrapped his arms around her middle and she put her hands on top of his and rubbed them gently, they looked like a couple.

Gibbs wasn't sure what it was that possessed him to wrap his arms around her waist, he just thought that they should really start the ruse, Jenny herself had to stop herself from jumping at the feeling of him so close and touching her waist.

"Now I want you guys to be normal okay, just pretend like I'm not here" Helen told them with a smile.

"Okay" Jenny and Gibbs nodded to her, "I'm going to check on Zoe and then get dressed" Jenny said pushing Gibbs' hands off of her and then walked out of the kitchen, missing Gibbs' the touch the minuet that she'd moved away from him and unbeknownst to her he felt the same.

Gibbs then walked into the living room with his coffee and the newspaper and Helen followed him which unnerved him a little but he tried to shrug it off and sit down on one of the sofas and take a sip of his coffee to wake him up before putting it down on the coffee table and then he began to read his newspaper.

Ten minutes later Zoe came skipping down the stairs, wearing jeans, blue t-shirt and her new favourite purple converse, her blond hair put up into two pigtails, most likely done by Jenny, she skipped over happily to the sofa where Gibbs sat and sat closely beside him.

"Zoe, you remember Helen" Gibbs told her.

Zoe looked at the brunette women with wide eyes "Are you going to try and take me away again?" she asked her voice full of worry so Gibbs put a protective arm around the little girl to try and comfort her.

"No, I'm not here to take you away" Helen smiled at the sweet girl, "I'm here to make sure that Jenny and Gibbs are the right people to look after you" she told her.

Zoe's eyes lit up and she leant over towards Helen "Oh they are, they protect me and love me and are really fun, I want to live with them" she told her.

"I'll keep that in mind" Helen assured her.

….

Hours of shopping later they all arrived back at Jenny's house, Zoe having chosen a potential wall paper and paint colour for the walls meanwhile having chosen a new bedding that was a deep purple with pink, yellow, orange and light green butterflies on it and also she got more clothes, a cosy rug for her room and her favourite a cuddly toy beaver called bob that she had fallen in love with in minutes.

Gibbs was last to enter the house with his hands full of bags, it was late so he wasn't surprised when he saw Jenny ushering a tired Zoe to bed, they having already stopped for dinner while shopping, they having not left to go shopping until after lunch.

He put the bags at the bottom of the stairs to sort out tomorrow before he turned to Helen "Can I interest you in a coffee or something?" he asked her.

"Coffee please, I would like to talk to you and Jenny once Zoe is settled" Helen asked.

"Sure" Gibbs nodded before going to get her her coffee.

Jenny made her way down stairs some time later after getting Zoe into her new Disney princess pyjamas and getting her tucked into bed, she looked around the kitchen and then saw the light in the living room so walked in and smiled at the sight of Gibbs sitting comfortably, almost at home in her living room and Helen opposite him.

The redhead thought for a moment before sitting next to Gibbs where he automatically put his arm around her shoulder and to keep up the pretence that they were a couple she curled herself into his side, taking comfort in the warmth of his body heat.

"So I wanted to ask you guys some questions, just to get a sense of how stable your relationship is" Helen told them. Gibbs and Jenny nodded understanding that Zoe needed a stable relationship to start a family. "So how long have you two known each other?" Helen asked.

Jenny was about to talk but Gibbs cut her off "We met about nine years ago" he told her "We were going to be partners on a mission in Europe" he continued.

Helen nodded before writing something down in the note pad she had with her, something that they had been noticing she'd been doing all day.

"Okay and how long have you been in a relationship?" Helen asked them.

Gibbs was about to speak but Jenny spoke first deciding she should talk "That's sort of a hard question to answer, we were together eight years ago while in Europe but then I broke it off and then when I came back to DC as the director we met again and I realised…that leaving Jethro was the biggest mistake I ever made and if I could go back in time to change it then I would but what is done is done and I've learnt from my mistakes and I now know I will never make that same mistake again" in the end her bright green eyes were almost in tears and Gibbs couldn't help but want to kiss her and tell her that he'd forgiven her that he was still in love with her, but he couldn't.

"Okay" Helen nodded, her voice a little hoarse, she closed the note pad in her lap, "Uh, I'll do one more surprise observation in the next couple of days before I make a final decision, but I will say now that I think you might want to get Zoe's room decorated because she's going to need it" she said with a small smile before the couple walked her out.

Once she was gone Gibbs turned to really look at Jenny and saw how her eyes look distracted and she looked sad "You okay Jen, couldn't have been easy bringing up the past like that" he asked her.

Jenny took a deep breath "I'm fine, just tired" she told him with a sigh.

"I should go, let you sleep" Gibbs said scratching the back of his head as he turned to look for his jacket.

"No" Jenny grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face her "Stay" she told him.

"Are you sure?" Gibbs asked her, not wanting to make her more upset or uncomfortable.

"Yeah" Jenny nodded "It's late and we don't know when Helen will be back and Zoe would want you here in the morning" she told him.

"You okay with sharing a bed?" he asked her.

"We're both adults Jethro and it's not like we haven't don't it…I mean shared a bed before" she told him before turning to go up the stairs.

Soon they both fell into bed, both on opposite sides of the bed, as far away from each other as they could possibly be, neither trusting themselves even though they wanted to lay next to each other, hold each other, fall asleep in each other's arms like they had done years ago, but it was different now.

"Goodnight Jethro" Jenny mumbled before reaching over to the beside cabinet and switch off the bedside lamp while rolling away to have her back to Gibbs.

"Night Jen" he mumbled in reply before turning off his own bedside lamp and also rolling away from her, his back facing her.

TBC…

**Suggestions?**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The next morning, sun light streamed through the master bedroom of the Georgetown property, showing the outline of two people under the cream covers.

Sometime in the night, neither really sure when or how, but Jenny and Gibbs had ended up falling into their old sleeping position form their time as a couple, Gibbs lay with his arms wrapped around Jenny's waist, his nose buried in her hair while Jenny's head was snuggled into his chest.

Both woke at the same time, their minds still muffled with sleep, being in each other's arms made them think that they were back in Paris like the last eight years hadn't happened.

Gibbs' eyes fluttered opened, he smiled when he saw the redhead in his arms. He pulled her closer and mumbled "I had the weirdest dream" his voice laced with sleep.

"Mmm" Jenny answered just as sleepily as she breathed in the scent of sawdust and coffee from Gibbs, making her feel so comfortable and safe, making her never leave his embrace.

He wasn't know what possessed him but Gibbs pressed a kiss to Jenny's red curls, this brought them both back to reality, Jenny tried to move away from him but couldn't as Gibbs' arm obstructed her movement, she put it down to his mind still being in sleep mode.

She moved her arms to where his rested at her waist, she tried to move them but she couldn't, not sure if it was the strength in his hold or the fact that a little part of her didn't want to move them, "Jethro let go" she told him, nudging his chest lightly but he didn't, "Come on, it's not Paris Jethro" she told him.

Gibbs' blue eyes shot open as he looked at her, he didn't want to let go, but he didn't want to upset her and destroy whatever it was they'd built together, so reluctantly he let go, then they both sat up in the bed, resting against the headboard of the bed.

"We need to talk" Jenny told him, something they should have spoken about sooner.

"Okay" Gibbs nodded taking a small gulp; he'd never been one for talking.

Jenny took a breath "Knowing you're not one for talking, I'll start" she gave him a small smile, always having been able to read his mind. "I want to say thank you for doing this….for taking on so much responsibility in adopting Zoe with me" she told him sincerely.

"Of course I would Jen…Zoe needs a home, someone to love her and I think that your it, your perfect….you're going to be a great mum" he assured her.

Jenny smiled, feeling a small blush grace her cheeks as she continued to talk "If we do get to adopt Zoe, I know it will be hard to explain to her why we don't live together and having to divide up when she stays at either of our houses but…." She began but Gibbs cut her off.

"We don't have to" he told her, his blue eyes looking into her green.

"What?" she asked, her heart beating faster and she began to feel a little sweaty and nervous, wondering if he was saying what she thought he was saying

Gibbs opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out because the doorbell rang, Jenny realised that it must be Helen for the last day of observation to see if they could adopt Zoe.

"You get Zoe, I'll let Helen in" Gibbs told her before slipping out of the bed, leaving Jenny so confused, what was he going to say? What did he mean? She groaned in frustration before getting out of the bed and heading to Zoe's room.

….

Later that afternoon they were on their hour of being observed by Helen, Zoe and Jenny stood by the door watching Gibbs put the little girls knew desk's together, squinting at the wrinkled piece of paper that had the instructions on it for the 100th time.

"You need your glasses Jethro" Jenny told him, in her director tone.

"No I don't I'm almost done" he told the redhead sending her a little smile, loving how really openly concerned she could be about him.

"And done" Gibbs told them proudly as he pushed the little girls desk into the corner of the room she wanted it and put the chair in front of it. "What do you thing Zo?" he asked the little girl.

"I love it" she said running into Gibbs' arms and hugging him close "Thank you" she said before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Anytime" Gibbs told her with a smile as he rested his head on hers, taking in the moment to hold a child again and have them love him, he didn't realised how lonely he really had been in the past until now, last week he was alone know he had Jenny and potentially Zoe, assuming that the observation went well that meant they would be able to officially adopt her.

"It looks great" Jenny told Gibbs before turning and heading out of the bedroom, seeing Zoe in his arms made him think of what they could have if she had never left, they could have lasted, they could have kids by now, they could have been a family or on the other hand she could have been just another number, they could have been married and then had a bitter split but none of it mattered now, all that mattered with Zoe.

Jenny and Helen walked into the kitchen while Zoe and Gibbs cleaned up the rest of the little girls room, "Gibbs is good with children isn't he" the social worker told Jenny.

"Yes he is" Jenny agreed as she poured three mugs of coffee.

"Have you and Gibbs ever talked about having children before?" Helen asked the redhead.

Jenny nodded "A little while ago but it's a hard subject….Gibbs had a daughter she and her mother tragically died in a car accident" she explained, she was hurt by the news herself so she couldn't imagine how Gibbs felt, with that every day.

"That's terrible, do you think he would be okay with Zoe?" Helen asked not wanting Gibbs emotions to hurt the little girl.

The redhead nodded "He already loves Zoe, she's not a replacement, she's already taken place in both our hearts, we want nothing more than to give her the love and upbringing she deserves" she assured her.

"Okay" Helen nodded, she'd known from day one how much these two had loved the little girl, there was really no question that these two would be more than suitable parents for Zoe.

Gibbs walked into the kitchen moments later, having left Zoe to take in her new room and to put things where she wanted them, it was her room so she should have it how she wanted it, plus he really needed coffee.

"Hey" He greeted them both as he walked past them both and leant over the kitchen side for one of the mugs Jenny had poured, brushing against the redhead when he did so.

"Zoe okay?" Jenny asked him as she drank some of her own coffee.

"Yeah" Gibbs nodded with a smile "Just getting settled in her room" he assured her as he leant against the counter.

"I want to take the opportunity while Zoe is occupied to tell you that you can legally adopt Zoe" Helen told them with a smile.

"Really?" Jenny grinned "She's ours" she couldn't believe it, before she really knew what she was doing she turned to Gibbs and kissed him on the lips, he held her close for a moment, responding to the kiss a little, something that surprised her, Jenny then pushed away from him and moved his arms once again from her waist.

"Well congratulations" Helen smiled, glad that they both seemed happy by the news, "I'll come to NCIS with the paper work on Monday" she told them before leaving them, feeling like she'd done the right thing.

"Should we go and tell Zoe?" Jenny asked Gibbs after they closed the door behind Helen.

"Yeah" Gibbs nodded, excitement shining in his blue eyes, he couldn't help the joy that spread through him at the thought of being a father again.

Soon they walked into Zoe's room, the little girl lay on her bed, hugging her cuddly beaver tight to her, her blond curls splayed out behind her, her green eyes watched the two adults as they came and sat down on her bed.

"Zoe we have something to tell you" Jenny began making the girl sit bolt upright.

"What is it?" she asked her big green eyes completely full of worry "Helen's taking me away isn't she?" she asked them switching her gaze from them both.

"No" Gibbs shook his head "We promise no one will take you away again, we're going to adopt you" he told her as Jenny began to run her hands through the little girls hair, not sure where the motherly instincts came from.

"You're adopting me?" Zoe asked them, not looking as worried as before.

"Yeah" Jenny told her with a nod "That's means you're going to stay here forever with us" she said with a smile.

Zoe broke out into a grin as she realised what that meant "So you guys are going to be like my mummy and daddy?" she asked them.

"Yeah like that" Jenny nodded.

"And you love me?" she asked looking at both Gibbs and Jenny.

"Of course we love you" Gibbs told her with his own comforting smile.

"You promise forever?" she asked them, worried that they might end up like her real dad.

"We promise we'll love you forever and ever" Jenny told her, Zoe smiled before launching herself at Jenny and hugging the redhead tight, so glad that it had been her who had found her, that had taken her in, Gibbs smiled and watched as the two girls hugged, Jenny then motioned for him to join in and it soon became a Zoe sandwich, the little girl being safely surrounded by the two adults.

Gibbs couldn't help but think about how this was a new start for them all, for Zoe to have the childhood she deserved, for them to try and be a family and maybe even for Jenny and Gibbs to try and build something they both thought they had lost.

Both Jenny and Gibbs knew that they had to have a talk and they would when Zoe went to sleep.

TBC…

**Still not sure what to do with Jibbs, so please help me! Any cute ideas**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"And they lived happily ever after…." Gibbs softly finished the final lines of the book that Zoe had shoved into his hand and begged him to read to her before she went to sleep.

Gibbs just couldn't refuse the little girl already, Zoe has already taken a peace in his heart and when she looked at him with her little green eyes he just couldn't say no, she already had him wrapped around her little finger.

He looked over from his place on the edge of the double bed that was now Zoe's and couldn't help but smile at the sleeping little girl, her blond curls in her face as she was snuggled into her cuddly beavers side and the covers were under her chin.

"Night sweetie" he mumbled before pressing a kiss to her head before getting up off of the bed and going to the door. He was her legal guardian now, he was going to be her father and that meant he was going to raise her and love her, he was going to get a second chance to be a father.

Gibbs gave the six year old one last look before walking out of the bedroom and closing the door softly behind him.

Now all he had to deal with was that 'talk' with Jenny, he took a deep breath, needing a moment to get his feelings and thoughts under control so he could concentrate when he spoke to her, she always had a way of making his thoughts fly away.

He began to walk down the large oak staircase, he didn't know how to start the conversation or really what it was he was going to say. He looked around the darkly lit house and found that the only source of light other than the streetlamps and the moon outside was the small orange glow of the desk lamp in Jenny's study.

"Jen" Gibbs spoke her name as he opened the door to the study he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her inside, she'd obviously been working on signing off some reports as she sat slumped in the chair, a pen held limply in her hand, her hair falling over her face as she snored slightly.

"You work too much" he mumbled as he walked over to her and carefully, ignoring the protests in his knees he lifted her up into his arms, supporting her back and under her knees and then carried her through her house and up the stairs, past Zoe's room and then carefully put her into her own bed.

"Jethro…." Jenny mumbled as she snuggled into her pillow and reached out across the bed to the side he had occupied the night before.

Gibbs looked at her moment with a sad smile before disappearing out of the room to check that the house was all locked up to make sure everything was safe and secure so nothing could happen to the two people he loved, before going back upstairs and crawling into bed beside Jenny.

….

Jenny woke the next morning to the sound of water running in her ensuit bathroom, her hand flew to her head as he eyes slowly opened, the last thing she remembered was reading threw a file she had to sign off on.

"Morning" she looked over to where the familiar voice had come from to see Gibbs standing in the doorway of the bathroom, wearing light blue worn-out jeans and his red hoodie.

"Morning" she mumbled as she sat up looking down to find that she was in her clothes from yesterday, she wasn't sure if she should take it as a complement or be hurt, be hurt that he didn't care about her to make sure she was comfy or happy that maybe, just maybe, he didn't trust himself enough to see her in her underwear. "How did I get here?" she asked him.

"I carried you" Gibbs told her with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"You didn't have to" she told him as she watched Gibbs walk around her bedroom, a place he had been many a time before.

"Leaving you there wouldn't have done any good for your neck or back" he told her, a little annoyed at how ungrateful she was being.

"But it also couldn't have been very good for your knee" Jenny retorted raising an eyebrow at him, in her own way showing him how well they knew each other, Gibbs didn't reply he just walked over to his duffle bag that had been draped over the chair that sat in front of her vanity mirror and put his tooth brush and toothpaste back in it.

"You can go home you know, you don't have to stay" Jenny told him making Gibbs' head snap up and back around to face her.

"I'm fine" he assured her.

"I know but, we're not being threatened by being surprise observed anymore, you can go home, I'm sure your boat is feeling neglected" she told him, she didn't want him to stay because he felt obligated to, she wanted him to stay because he wanted too.

Gibbs shook his head "Legally _we _are Zoe's parents" he told her "You _and _me" he added motioning to the both of them "She's not just your daughter, she's mine, you knew that when you asked me to co-adopt her with you I wouldn't just be her father on paper I would go into it one hundred per cent" his voice showed he was a little angry.

Jenny nodded "Okay, so how is this going to work?" she asked him.

"We take it one day at a time" he told her with a small smile "Come on, we're meeting the team at the park at twelve" he added as he headed to the door.

"We are?" Jenny asked him, her face and voice laced with confusion.

"There her family now too Jen" he told her, she shook her head in response, she should have known that it wasn't just a matter of she and Jethro raising Zoe but the team would be there.

….

"Now common little Z you can do this, just swing like Gibbs taught you, like you practiced and then run as fast as you can" Tony tried to give Zoe a pep talk, everyone was in the middle of a game of baseball.

Zoe hadn't ever played it before or really knew what it was so Gibbs had quickly explained it to her and taught her how to swing a bat and they did a little bit of throwing and catching and she'd seemed to get the hang of it.

Then they'd had to pick the teams, Zoe was one captain and Ziva had been the other, Zoe's team consisted of Tony, Gibbs and Abby, while Ziva's consisted of Jenny, Tim and Jimmy, Ducky having decided to watch instead.

The little girl took a deep breath as she turned to face Gibbs who was pitching, she watched as he swung his arm back to pitch, she tightened her grip on the wooden baseball bat and watched as she swung the bat just as Gibbs threw the ball.

But little Zoe swung a little too early and ended up spinning around and dropping the bat on Tony's leg causing him to yelp in pain "I'm sorry" Zoe apologised, looking petrified and braced herself for the beating and pain she thought was going to occur but nothing happened.

Actually what did happened surprised her, she felt someone wrap their arms around her and hold her close, it was Jenny, her comforting perfume and warmness made her feel better, "You're not going to hurt me?" Zoe asked her, her green eyes almost full of tears.

"No sweetie, it was an accident, not your fault" Jenny assured her as she brushed the blond curls out of her face.

"Yeah little Z everything's cool" Tony assured her, ignoring the stinging that was still coming from his foot as he hugged the little girl lightly to show her no harm was done. "How about we play a game of ultimate Frisbee?" he suggested.

"Yeah" Zoe nodded enthusiastically making everyone laugh.

Meanwhile Gibbs walked over to Ducky to get water for everyone, "Everything okay Jethro" the ME asked the younger man as he approached him.

"Yeah, Zoe just got a little spooked, it's bound to happen" Gibbs told him as he opened the cooler bag to get the water.

"She's going to be a good mother isn't she" Ducky said motioning to Jenny lifting up Zoe so she could catch the Frisbee that Ziva had just thrown, noticing how everyone was laughing and having fun.

"Yeah she is" Gibbs said with a smile.

"And how are things going with you and Jennifer?" He asked, always having been a fan of them together.

Gibbs shrugged his shoulders "I was going to use this time to show her how good we could be together, how we could make this work" he explained taking a seat next to his friend on the park bench, not wanting to ruin the moment he was watching, he just wanted to look for a moment.

"Something tells me she already knows" Ducky said with a smile as he noticed Jenny looking back at Jethro from her place with the others.

TBC….

**Hope you guys like, I'm not feeling to great at the moment so your reviews would really cheer me up along with any suggestions.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Zoe was all tuckered out" Jenny looked up from the report she was looking at to find Gibbs standing in the doorway of the study.

She wasn't surprised that Zoe was tired it had been a long day of playing games at the park finished with a trip to pizza planet and when they'd gotten home Jenny had to make sure the sleepy six year old had a bath and was in clean PJ's before Gibbs cad her a bed time story.

"Thank you for organising today" she told him as Gibbs made his way over to the drinks cabinet and it just occurred to her how at home he was in her house, "I had fun today, Zoe did too" she continued.

"I had fun too" Gibbs admitted. It had been the first time in a long time that he had felt like he had a family.

Gibbs flopped down to the leather sofa in the corner and he then watched as Jenny got up from her chair behind her desk and over to the sofa, sitting down beside him.

"Jethro what are we doing?" she asked him, her voice just above a whisper.

Gibbs couldn't help but smile at her "We are parents now, we are going to raise Zoe together" he told her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But it's not that simple" she told him her voice a little raised.

"Nothing is ever simple" he tried to assure her "We just have to raise Zoe the best we can" he continued.

Jenny stood up from the sofa "Can we forget about Zoe for two seconds and focus on us?" she asked motioning to herself and him.

"What us?" he asked, knowing he was bating her but he had to if he wanted her to say what he wanted to hear.

"We are parents to Zoe" she told him, her voice stern "What do we tell people?" she asked "How do we explain the situation?" she continued.

"That we are friends who adopted a child to give her her best chance in life" Gibbs replied seeing Jenny flinch as the word friends past his lips.

"Okay" Jenny nodded "So you okay with dating other people?" she asked her hands going to her hips, knowing it would hurt her if Gibbs went off with another women who wanted to be Zoe's mother and they forgot about her.

"We've been doing it for the past six years" he told her, his voice coming out a little harsher than he'd wanted it to.

Jenny lost it, she couldn't believe how stupid she had been "Why did I even think of adopting a child with_ you_" she almost growled at him "You are still the same heartless bastard who likes to string redheads along and breaks their hearts" she yelled.

Gibbs felt his blood begin to boil, "I've never strung you along" he yelled back at her, both now standing in the middle of her study, the only source of lights being from the desk lamp and glow from the lit fire place.

"Paris" Jenny yelled back in return not believing that he'd forgotten their time together and how he had treated her.

"You left Jen….not me" he reminded her.

Jenny was almost left without words but soon found her normal defensive Jenny side "Because you were stringing me along, you didn't love me" she told him.

"Yes I did, I loved you and you broke my heart" he said, his eyes turning deep blue with emotion, "I asked you to move in with me" he reminded her once again as he took a step closer to her "The day you left was the day….the day I was going to ask you to marry me" he admitted, something he wished he'd told her a while ago.

Jenny was a little surprised at the fact he was going to ask her to marry him all those years ago, could it be that he really had cared about her, that he'd really loved her, then she remembered the ghosts that would always be hiding in the shadows that she hadn't noticed years ago but now they were very prominent, Shannon and Kelly, Gibbs loved them and there wasn't enough room in his heart for anyone else.

She took a confident step towards him, her lips almost curling into a cocky smile as she thought of her next words "And I'd just be another number" she almost spat at him, her words cutting him like a knife.

Gibbs stepped even closer to her "You have never nor ever will be a number" he assured her.

Jenny gulped; he was standing so close to her now that she was surrounded by his smell of wood, coffee and the bourbon they had just been drinking. So close that to kiss him all she had to do was step forward and reach up.

Watching her eyes, he could tell what she was thinking, deciding to not let her talk or in this case think, herself out of what she was feeling, what they were both feeling, he took the step forward and reached a little down and kissed her.

The redhead couldn't believe he was kissing her, his hands were going around her waist and pulling her close to him, her hands automatically going to his chiselled chest. Inside she was having an internal battle, her head was screaming that this was wrong, that he would only break her heart again while her heart was beating so fast and telling her that this was right, that this was what it wanted.

She couldn't take it anymore and pushed him away from her "Jethro…" she began looking up at him with her bright green eyes.

"No Jen" Gibbs told her brushing a lock of her hair out of her face "I'm not letting you get away again" he told her.

"But how is this going to work?" she asked him, her eyes becoming slightly watery.

Gibbs' hand went under her chin and tilted her head to look up to him "We be a family" he told her with a smile.

She smiled back in return "We'll have to figure out who's house we want to live in, settle on a school for Zoe, tell Sec-Nav" she began to list all the things they had to do.

"Then we'll do it" he assured her, running a hand up and down her cheek, taking in the luxury of being able to touch her again, being able to have her so close.

Jenny's knees began to weaken under the intense gaze of his blue eyes, "Jethro…." she said still a little reserved about everything "It's just not that simple" she told him once again.

"It never is with us Jen" he told her before kissing her again, happy when she kissed him back "I love you Jen" he finally told her.

She smiled "I love you too Jethro" she said before kissing him again, running her hands through his short silver hair.

….

In the early hours of the next morning Gibbs woke to the sound of floorboards creaking, opening his eyes he smiled at the sight of Jenny laying peacefully in his arms, a small smile gracing her face, he liked to think he had something to do with that.

He pressed a kiss to her head just as the bedroom door swung open a little to show a teary eyed looking Zoe, limply holding bob the beaver in his hand.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked gently pushing Jenny off of him and then slipping out of the double bed and approaching the little girl.

"I had a nightmare" she mumbled, her pale skin stained with tears.

"Oh sweetie" Gibbs said picking her up and hugging the six year old close, not caring how his back protested, she needed comforting and he was her father now so it was her job.

Zoe all of a sudden felt better, safer like the demons of the night couldn't hurt her, she hugged bob closer to her and then clutched Gibbs' old NCIS t-shirt closely, helping her know that he wasn't going to leave her.

"Come on" Gibbs said carrying the little girl out of the master bedroom and then down the stairs and to the kitchen, leaving Jenny to roll over to Gibbs' side of the bed and hold the pillow close to herself.

Gibbs carried the little girl into the kitchen before putting her down on the floor and going to the fridge where he found left over pie, he cut her off a slice and put it on a plate for her, hoping it would cheer her up and make her feel so much better after her nightmare, just like his mother used to do when he was little.

"Don't tell Jen okay" he told Zoe as he put the plate down in front of her knowing Jenny would probably have a go at him for feeding her at the early hours of the morning and extra sugar as well.

Zoe smiled and nodded before she began to eat the pie, an idea hit Gibbs as he watched her and he got up and went to the cupboard and pulled out some chocolate sauce "My mother used to put chocolate sauce on my pie when I had bad dreams" he explained offering her the bottle which Zoe took and squeezed some on to her desert.

A couple of minutes later the little girl was full and felt a lot better, just how Gibbs had planned, he put her more or less empty bowl in the sink before turning back to Zoe who was stifling a yawn "Do you think you can go back to sleep?" he asked her, he himself feeling tired too and he wanted to go back to crawl in bed with Jenny.

Zoe shook her head, all of a sudden her green eyes became watery and full of worry "the monsters might get me" she told him before getting up out of her chair and going over to Gibbs and latching on to him tight.

"Why don't I see if I can scare the monsters away?" he suggested, carefully picking her up and pressing a kiss to her blond curls as he felt her nod, so he carried her up the stairs, being careful to not make too much noise as to wake Jenny and trying not to put too much pressure on his knee.

Once they reached her room Gibbs carefully put Zoe back into her double bed where she crawled under the covers of one side of the bed "Where are the monsters?" he asked her, not sure if they were under the bed or in the wardrobe, Zoe poked her head out from under the covers and pointed to below her meaning the monster was under the bed.

Gibbs went onto the floor and looked under the bed and as he expected he found nothing, "All clear, they've gone obviously they heard that your my daughter now at that they'd have to get through me to get to you" he told her with a warm smile. "Night sweetie" he said pressing a kiss to her head and turned to leave.

"No" Zoe grabbed his hand "They might come back" she told him with watery eyes and shaky lips.

"Okay, well I better stay and protect you then" Gibbs said puffing out his chest and then laying down on the spare side of the bed, planning to just wait until she fell asleep then slip back into his bed beside Jenny.

Moments later his eyes lids began to fill heavy and he found himself falling asleep slowly, now to comfy to move, Zoe moved over with bob under her arm and snuggled into Gibbs' side and mumbled "Love you daddy" before she finally fell asleep, her breathing becoming deep.

"Night sweet pea" he mumbled before pressing a lazy kiss to her forehead, then he himself feel into a sleepy slumber.

TBC…

**I hope you guys like, not really sure what to do next any suggestions?**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Jenny was woken early on a Monday morning by the sound of the alarm clock buzzing, she let out a groan as she rolled over and stretched her arm out to the ringing clock on her beside cabinet and hit the off button.

She took a deep breath, before moving back into the bed and expecting to snuggle into the warm body of the man who'd been sharing her bed for the past couple of weeks, instead she found a cold side of the bed.

The redhead jolted awake and looked around her dimly lit bedroom for the man in question, afraid that he had disappeared into the dead of night and everything that they had both confessed almost two weeks ago had been a lie and that he'd left her to raise Zoe alone.

Her doubts about her and Jethro's relationship were put to rest when she noticed a piece of paper on the pillow behind her, she rubbed her eyes and let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding before putting on a lamp, the early hour meaning the sun wasn't fully up yet, and then began to read his curly scrawls.

_Jen, I got called out on a case early this morning, I didn't want to wake you, I know its Zoe's first day of kindergarten and that I was going to take her with you but I promise I'll be there to pick her up and give her a kiss for me, see you at work, Jethro._

She ran her finger over his name with a small smile, before looking once again at the clock on her bedside table, Jenny had an hour to get herself ready before waking Zoe so slipped out of bed, grabbing Gibbs' discarded NIS t-shirt that smelt like him before heading to the bathroom to start her daily routine.

….

Since a morning two weeks ago that Jenny found Zoe and Gibbs snuggled together in the little girls bed, the redhead had noticed how attached the six year old had become to him, at first she'd thought it was sweet and something that would do both Zoe and Jethro good, Zoe having missed out on having a good father for the better part of her life and Gibbs having had his daughter tragically ripped away from him at such a young age.

But now Jenny wasn't so sure that it was a good thing, Zoe had at first been more attached to her but since Gibbs had moved in and started fathering Zoe, the redhead couldn't help but feel that Zoe had been a little distant to her, I mean she'd heard Zoe accidently call Gibbs Daddy a couple of times but not once had she called Jenny Mummy or Mum she was just Jenny.

Now dressed in a crisp grey oxford blouse, black pencil skirt, jacket and heels, her hair swept half back into a top notch and her makeup light, she stood outside Zoe's bedroom door trying to think of the bed possible way to wake the little girl up.

Deciding just to take the bull by the horns she pushed the door open lightly and walked in, she smiled at first at the sight of Zoe curled up asleep in her bed, an arm securely wrapped around bob the beaver, but then noticed there was rolls of blankets under the bed, the spare blankets that had been put in a draw and this worried her.

Jenny went over to her and sat down carefully on the double bed before brushing back the girls blond curls "Zoe, it's time to wake up sweetie" she told her as softly as she could.

"Wake up" Zoe mumbled and stretched out as she began to wake up.

"Yep, you have to get up for your first day of school" the older women told her with a smile.

"School?" Zoe asked her with a toothy grin, she'd never been to school and couldn't wait to start learning and get to meet new friends.

"Uh huh" She nodded, surprised to see such enthusiasm about school, she only hopped it would last through Zoe's teenage years.

Zoe eagerly hopped out of bed and went to her chest of draws and began looking for some clothes to wear, "Zoe can I ask you a question?" Jenny asked as she shifted her position on the bed so she could watch the girl.

"Yeah" the little girl nodded, her eyes big and green, reminding Jenny a little over her own.

"Why are your spear blankets rolled up along the sides of your bed?" she asked looking down at them and Zoe did the same.

"It's so the monsters won't get me" Zoe explained to Jenny.

"What monsters sweetie?" the redhead asked worried for a moment that someone may have broken in and be hiding under her bed.

Zoe approached Jenny very slowly and looked around licking her lips before whispering "the monsters that live under my bed, Daddy said he would protect me but he can't do that if he's protecting you from them so I have to protect myself but trapping them so at night they don't come out and get me" she explained, her green eyes getting a little watery.

Jenny smiled at Zoe's explanation of why she and Jethro shared a bed thinking he was protecting her from monsters but she also saw the problem and the worry Zoe had, "No monster is going to get you Zoe" Jenny assured her, opening her arms for the girl to have a hug.

"They know that if they even thought about getting you that not only would they have to deal with Daddy" she told her with a smile "But they'd have to deal with me too" hugging Zoe close. "But if you do get scared you can always share mine and Daddy's bed okay" she added and Zoe nodded with a small smile.

"Can I have waffles for breakfast?" the little girl asked after a moment.

"As it's your first day of school, of course you can" Jenny replied making Zoe grin from ear to ear.

…

Forty minutes later Jenny stood in the class room, watching as Zoe sat down at a table and began to draw a picture and then a little girl came down and sat next to her and they began talking.

"She'll be fine" the redhead almost jumped when the teacher, Mrs Philips a tall, young, Hispanic women with big kind brown eyes and long black hair.

Jenny nodded, her hand going to her chest in an attempt to get her heart to stop beating so fast, "You have my and my partners number in case there is any problem" she reminded the teacher, feeling a little nervous about leaving the girl for the first time.

"Yes and don't worry" the teacher assured her "She'll be fine, it's natural for you to feel a little nervous about leaving her, all mothers feel the same way" she continued with a kind smile.

Her gaze moved back to Zoe and smiled when she saw that Zoe seemed to have made friends with the girl and was now talking to her animatedly, "I need to get to work" Jenny mumbled before calling Zoe over to her for a moment.

"I'm going now but Daddy will pick you up at the end of the day" she told her crouching down to the six year olds level. "You be good okay" she said before getting up to her normal height.

"Okay bye" Zoe waved to Jenny before running back over to her friend.

Jenny sighed before turning on her heels and heading for the door, she was just about to walk down the corridor when she heard "Momma wait" from a familiar voice.

She stopped and turned just in time for Zoe to crash into her legs "What is it honey?" she asked her heart still beating a mile a minute at the fact the little girl had called her 'Momma'.

"Always hug before saying goodbye" she told her before hugging her 'mother' tightly, Jenny returned the hug, her heart swelling with love.

After a couple of moments Zoe turned around and skipped back to her class, leaving a stunned redhead in her wake.

Moments later a soft cough brought Jenny back to reality, she turned to her side to find Melvin, her security detail at her side "Everything okay Mame?" he asked her.

"Everything's fine Melvin, I think it's time we get to NCIS don't you" she said with a smile before turning to leave, secure in her knowledge that Zoe was okay, now all she wanted was to see Jethro.

TBC….

**I hope you like this cute fluffy filler chapter, I thought it would give you guys a heads up and tell you that this is the only update this weekend as it is my birthday tomorrow! **

**So I also wanted to say a quick happy birthday to my beautiful twin sister Tivafivanatomy, love you xxxx **

**Please review! **


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

As the weeks past the new family of three fell into a comfortable routine. Gibbs would normally be called out early for a case or have a stack of paperwork to do so would get up early for work, meaning that Jenny had the task of getting Zoe up and to school, then Gibbs would pick her up after school and take Zoe back to NCIS where she would do any homework or reading at Gibbs' desk or Jenny's office, depending on if she had meetings, then Zoe would go home with whoever got to leave first, most of the time that being Gibbs.

They were all happy, swapping between Jenny and Gibbs' houses trying to find the one that was most comfortable for them so they could finally move in together, Zoe loved her new life. She had a daddy that loved her to know end and that she knew would never hurt her meanwhile she had a Momma, having already had a mummy that had passed away, who loved her and protected her as well as the extra bonus of Gibbs' team who were slowly becoming her family too.

Jenny and Gibbs' relationship was also going along nicely, although they didn't have much time to focus on just the two of them, they still cherished what they had, still held each other at night and kissed each other before leaving in the morning, they still hadn't exactly right out told anyone about their relationship but team Gibbs just presumed it went with adopting Zoe.

….

It was a usual Friday morning, Gibbs was out on a case with his team, so Jenny didn't get to see him when she walked through the bullpen to her office.

People had noticed the difference in both Jenny and Gibbs in the last couple of weeks, Jenny was less bossy, smiled and laughed a lot more, less of the ice queen director that she had slowly been becoming meanwhile Gibbs had seemed less grouchy, left at a more reasonable time.

The redhead gave the MCRT area of the bullpen a quick glance before making her way up to the balcony in front of MTAC, "Good morning director" Cynthia met her halfway.

"Good morning Cynthia" Jenny gave her ever so faithful assistant a smile as they walked to her office. "We haven't got any ops today in MTAC do we?" Jenny asked making sure, she wanted a light day so she could go home and be with Gibbs and Zoe.

"Uh no, you have a pretty light day, but SEC-NAV informed me he needed to speak to you for a moment so will be arriving in half an hour to talk to you in your office" Cynthia said as they reached Jenny's office.

Jenny sighed, she really didn't have the energy to talk to her boss right now, but she had no other choice. "Okay, can you inform special agent Gibbs that I would like to see him for an update in his case" she asked.

"Of course Director" Cynthia smiled before going over to her desk, she noted that recently her boss had been having Gibbs de-brief her about his cases more and more, she'd always known something was going on between them and now it was more or less confirmed in her mind.

Jenny walked into her office and shut the door behind her, looking over at her desk she saw there was a cup of coffee sitting on her desk with a bright yellow sticky note stuck to it.

She made her way over to her desk, sitting in her chair and picking up the Styrofoam cup that was now cold and peeled off the sticky note and read the familiar scrawl.

_Tonight 1900 J x_

The redhead couldn't help but grin as she leant back into her chair, tonight at 1900, what was Jethro planning, resisting the urge to pick up her phone and call him, she picked up the cold coffee and put it in the bin, it was the thought that counted.

"Director Sec-Nav is here to see you" Cynthia's voice came through the intercom.

"Thank you, Cynthia, let him in" Jenny replied as she folded up the sticky note and hid it under some other paper work.

Moments later her office door opened and Sec-Nav walked in with a stern look on his face, Jenny gulped before standing up "Good morning Sir" she said giving him a small smile.

"Director" he nodded "I don't have much time so I'm just going to get down to business" he told her and she nodded "It has come to my attention that you and one of your agents have been having an affair for the past month or so, now I know you Jennifer so I'm right in thinking this is just a rumour?"

"Yes" Jenny nodded "That's a rumour" she confirmed.

"So there isn't anything going on between you and one of your agents?" he asked her, sensing there was something she wasn't saying.

"Well actually…" Jenny began noting how the man in front of hers facial expression screwed up to a scowl "We should have told you sooner but Special agent Gibbs and I are together" she informed him.

"Well then you'll have to break it off, think of the integrity of the agency Jennifer, your affair will bring NCIS's already fragile reputation to ruins" Sec-Nav explained his voice getting a little angry.

"We are not having an affair" Jenny told him sternly.

"Well whatever it is it has to end" Sec-nav told her.

"No" Jenny shook her head "Jethro and I have a daughter now and we love each other, I'm not ending our relationship for you or anyone" she told him.

"You have a daughter!" Sec-Nav yelled at her in shock.

"Yes we adopted her a couple of weeks ago, she's six and her name is Zoe" The redhead explained.

Sec-Nav nodded, he himself had children, of course a little older than six but still, if he could have kids why shouldn't she "Well I think I can work with this with the press, but I expect you both to keep it out of the office" he told her before moving to walk out of the door when he opened the door he found Gibbs on the other side, they shared a glare before the older man walked off and Gibbs walked into Jenny's office.

"What did he want?" he asked looking over his shoulder and not at Jenny.

"He found out about us" Jenny told him as if it was nothing.

Gibbs shut the door and locked it behind him "What did he say?" he asked her.

"He told me that we had to break up" she said walking over to where he stood.

"Screw him" Gibbs told her as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"I told him no" she said with a smile "I also explained to him about Zoe and he said that he could deal with the press if we keep it out of the office"

Gibbs smiled at her "What he doesn't know won't hurt him" before he reached down and kissed her lightly on the lips and gently squeezed her waist.

Jenny smiled when they parted, she'd missed him so much, she still almost found it hard to believe that they were actually finally together, she had a funny feeling that this would be it, this would be them forever and she was quite alright with that.

"Did Zoe go to school okay?" Gibbs asked her after a moment.

"She was fine, she loves school you know that" Jenny told him "You're picking her up later?" she asked him.

"Yeah" Gibbs nodded "The case is pretty open and close" he added "I'd better go" he told her before kissing her quickly on the lips and turned to walk away.

Jenny reached out quickly and grabbed his hand, spinning her back to face him "What's happening at seven?" she asked him.

Gibbs smiled, so she'd got his message "I was thinking dinner….just you and me, then whatever you want" he told her before kissing her again, someone times he just couldn't get enough of her, he gave her another smile before walking out of her office.

….

"You look pretty Momma" Zoe told Jenny from where she sat on Gibbs' double bed in the bedroom at his house.

"Thank you sweetie" Jenny smiled at her, she was dressed in a knee length black dress with long sleeves that were made of a floral silk pattern, she had matching black stilettos, a simple diamond heart pendent and diamond stud earrings, her hair curling naturally down her back.

Zoe watched as Jenny sat down on the edge of the bed with her makeup bag, the little girl watched as she applied eyes shadow, eye liner, a little foundation and finally bright red lip stick, "You want some?" Jenny asked her offering her some lipstick.

"Yeah" Zoe nodded, wanting to be as pretty as her Momma.

"Okay, put your lips in a pout" Jenny told the six year old showing her how she meant and she did, she then put a really thin layer on so it just gave her lips a slightly red tint but to her she could really feel it.

"How do I look?" Zoe asked Jenny with a smile.

"You look beautiful" Jenny said reaching across and kissing the little girl on the forehead.

"But she always looks beautiful" Gibbs spoke from his place in the doorway to his bedroom making Jenny and Zoe turn to look at him.

Jenny took in Gibbs' black trousers, grey shirt with the top of his white polo shirt showing underneath, looking as much of the silver fox as ever and he was all hers.

There came a bang at the door and then a nock "That'll be Tony" Gibbs told them "Zoe why don't you answer it?" he asked her.

"Okay" Zoe nodded before skipping down the stairs to answer the door, leaving Jenny and Gibbs alone.

"You ready to go?" he asked her, watching as she got up from the bed and made her way over to him.

"Yeah" She nodded as she made her way over to him and they then walked down the stairs to find Zoe and Tony.

"And then we can watch the little mermaid two" they heard the little girl explain loudly to Tony, all of her DVD's she wanted to watch in her hands.

"It sounds like we are going to have to make a lot of popcorn" Tony told her with a smile, he liked films, he loved films but he wasn't sure he was in for a night of Disney Disney and more Disney, but if that was what the little girls liked who was he to deny her.

"You know where the microwave is, just don't burn it this time" Gibbs told him, remembering the last time that Tony stayed over a couple of years ago and he made popcorn for a movie night and burnt it and it smelled for weeks. "We have a reservation so we better get going"

"Okay" Jenny nodded "Love you Zo, be good for Tony" she gave her 'daughter' a hug and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Will you guys be back to read me a story before bed?" Zoe asked them, her eyes big and green.

"Uh, I don't know" Jenny told her "But I'm sure If we can't Tony will read to you"

"Okay" Zoe nodded, once she'd said goodbye to Gibbs the couple left for a night out, leaving Tony and Zoe to watch their films.

…..

Hours later, Jenny and Gibbs were walking through a park close to the restaurant they had dined at, their hands were holding each other's and their fingers were entwined, Jenny's head rested on his shoulder lightly.

"You know if Zoe was our child…"Jenny began but Gibbs cut her off.

"What do you mean?" Gibbs asked her "Zoe is our child" he added.

Jenny smiled "I mean if she was blood ours" she told him "She'd have been conceived in Paris" she added looking at him.

"Really" He grinned, Paris being one of the best times of his life, the thought of what they could have had, had she not left did hurt a little but he knew what they had now and he loved it.

They continued to walk, he noticed Jenny was quiet, he nudged her lightly "Hey" he said with a small smile "What's up?"

"Just thinking of what we could have had if I hadn't walked away all those years ago" she said, her green eyes bright and watery "I….I threw away everything, I…" she was stopped but Gibbs' putting a finger to her lips.

"No" Gibbs shook his head "We've been through this" he told her "I love you, we have to stop thinking about the past, think about what we could have now" he smiled.

"And what could we have now?" she asked him.

"We could have anything you want, we could get married, have more kids, anything" he told her, brushing a lock of her hair out of her face.

Jenny gave him a small smile "That sounds nice" she mumbled before taking his hand once again.

Gibbs gladly took her hand with his and then they continued to walk "The real question is, what do you want to do now?" he asked her making her laugh.

"mmm, we could go watch a movie?" she suggested but Gibbs shook his head, never really having been one for films, "Ooh dancing" She said, her eyes lighting up, she loved to dance and what she could remember he was very good at dancing. "But you don't dance in public" she remembered.

Gibbs grabbed her hand and wrapped an arm around her waist, "What are you doing?" Jenny asked him.

"Dancing" Gibbs told her as he began to move around the path with her in his arms.

Jenny laughed "You don't dance in public" she told him as she began to dance with him.

"Look around Jen" he told her and she did "We're the only ones here" he whispered before kissing her.

They continued to dance for a minute until they were interrupted by Gibbs' phone ringing, breaking the spell "Gibbs, ugh huh, what did you do, alright, we'll be there soon" Jenny listened to his conversation and worry built with in her.

"What's happened?" she asked him.

"Uh, I don't know, Tony just said Zoe's shut herself away and won't let him in" he explained, they turned on their heels and they headed back to the car.

….

Twenty minutes later they arrived back at Gibbs' home, they pulled open the front door.

"Where is she" "What happened" Both Gibbs and Jenny spoke to Tony at the same time asking different questions.

The Italian stood stunned for a moment "I uh don't know" he told them "I fell asleep when we were watching TV when I woke up she was gone and I heard her crying and I found her in the cupboard but she won't let me in".

It was then Jenny realised what must have happened, Zoe must have been reminded of killing her father, him watching TV, Tony not moving being asleep, like he was dead.

"Where is she?" She asked him and Tony nodded to a cupboard in the hall that was open a jar, she gave Gibbs a look and he nodded to her.

Going over to the cupboard the redhead opened the door and found Zoe in the corner shaking, just like when she'd first set eyes on her "Hey Zo" she reached out to her, "You okay?" she asked.

Zoe shook her head "I killed Tony" Jenny's heart broke, hearing her voice was so little, so scared, soon she began to sob.

"No sweetie you didn't, he just fell asleep" Jenny assured her, picking the little girl up and holding her close as she could, she picked the little girl up and then carried her up the stairs and to the nearest bedroom.

"I'm sorry boss" Tony apologised to his boss, the man he always looked up to, saw as more of a father than his real father.

"It's okay, I should have known, she's been through a lot and it was bound to catch up with her, go home, enjoy your weekend" he patted Tony on the back before watching the younger man leave and then locked the door and made sure everything was secure.

He then walked up stairs to find Jenny and Zoe, he looked in the little girls room but didn't find them there, then he checked the other spare room that was being used as more of a storage room and as he expected it wasn't there.

Gibbs finally found them, curled up in his bed, Jenny's arm protectively wrapped around Zoe and the little girls hand gripped the redheads curls, both still dressed in their clothes from the day, he smiled before lying down on the empty side of the bed, snuggled up to Zoe and Jenny, wrapped an arm across the little girl until he reached Jenny, protecting his girls.

TBC….

**I hope you guys like, please review and suggestions welcome and wanted.**


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